Dec. 8, Detroit Free Press: "You get better odds in Vegas," said Houston, who was picked by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to represent Waters on Monday. "I will be frank with her and let her know what her odds are."

It’s never a good sign when your lawyer publicly says you have almost no shot.

Then again, that’s what happens when you plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor for public corruption, are sentenced to probation, and then want to take it all back.

Maybe the court can also appoint Houston to talk some sense into Detroit’s other prominent kleptocrats suffering from plea bargain remorse, Monica Conyers and Sam Riddle.

Accepting the consequences of one’s actions is hard. Especially when you have to give back an ill-gotten $6000 Rolex.

Waters wants to withdraw her plea because, she says, it has negatively affected her status in the community. Once going so far as to say her guilty plea is "literally" eating away at her. Literally.

Maybe the court documents were infested with some sort of flesh-eating bacteria. Who knows?

Ironically, Waters' effort to withdraw her plea is a constant public reminder that she admitted to corruption in open court. That’s not exactly the sort of thing that helps to rebuild one’s reputation.

In addition to her ethical failings, it’s probably safe to assume Mary Waters is also kind of dumb.